Don’t be fooled. This travel ban is as bad as the last one – it must be fought.

My essay in the Guardian:

After Donald Trump addressed a joint session of Congress, many Americans swooned at the fact that our president could read words. For a moment, it really was shocking. Trump, who usually sounds like the Facebook account of your old high-school tormentor, barely mentioned himself in the speech. He seemed to look forward more than backward. And he was wearing a tailored suit. Who was this man?

But it didn’t take long for the shock and awe to wear off. A new president, alas, had not been born. Mere days and tweets later, Trump was again the same misdirecting, power-abusing, narcissistic chief of state that he is. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss.

There’s a lesson here for how we should view Trump’s re-released Muslim ban. The administration will tell you that this time the executive order is specifically tailored and carefully crafted to protect the nation and pass legal scrutiny. But we won’t be fooled. In substance, we’ve been given the same Muslim ban as the first time around. It’s just that, like Trump’s speech to the joint session of Congress, it’s being delivered in complete sentences.

Yet make no mistake. This ban is just as prejudiced as its predecessor and demands as much – if not more – opposition.

Read the rest here.

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